221b Ninja Street
by Control Room
Summary: Three best friends, close enough to be called brothers, return from the war against the overlord to Ninjago City. However, they together are just short of money for an apartment. A mutual friend, Mr. S. Wu, introduces the group to Zane, who stuns them all by easily figuring out secrets they've all had. He then leaves after telling them an address: 221b Ninja Street. (AU)
1. Morning

Just so you all know, I have used Ariane DeVere's transcript as a guide. Therefore, she deserves some credit. ~PZP

* * *

The three young men sharing a hotel room in Ninjago City woke up to the beeping sound of an alarm. Groaning, one fell off his bed, another put his pillow on his head, and the last one tasered the alarm, which quickly turned off.

"Seriously, Jay?" The one who put his pillow over his ears moaned. "We don't have enough to pay for damages!"

"I can fix that," Jay protested after getting up, then promptly tripped. "Uh, Cole? Why are you on the floor?"

"Because it is better than the ceiling," Cole sighed in response, hugging the ground. He opened one eye to look at the one still in bed. "Kai, we can't afford so much hair gel. Stop it."

"Guys, I really don't use hair gel!" Kai exploded, leaping to his feet. "My hair is just naturally like this!"

"Told ya Jay," Cole said, not moving from the floor. "You owe me lunch."

"Yeah, well, I can barely afford mine!" Jay whined. "I'll make breakfast instead. _Yours_ is inedible."

With that, he left to the kitchen, and Kai went to the bathroom. Cole, still on the ground, opened one eye cautiously. He heavily exhaled when he saw he was alone. Curling into a fetal position, he cried softly as the memories of the war took over his mind.

After Kai carefully locked the restroom door, he stood by the sink and stared at his reflection in the mirror. But all he could see in the background behind himself was scenes of the war against the overlord. Bloody, brutal, all out war. He gripped the edge of the sink, lowered his head, and his tears flowed freely.

When Jay entered the kitchen, he pushed the bad thoughts out of his head by concentrating on the pancakes he was trying. But no matter how many times he shook his head to shoo away the sounds and images, and the worst one, getting shot in the leg, and having to basically hop back to the army's base. True, they had all been shot, Cole got a bullet in his arm while pushing Jay down, thus saving him from being shot in the heart. Kai got one in his shoulder while rushing both of them back to the base. And they all bothered them. Kai's left arm would not work sometimes, Jay had a limp in his right leg, and Cole had a intermittent tremor in his left hand.

Jay snapped out of his thoughts just in time to rescue their pancakes. Cole stumbled out of the bedroom, crashing into Kai. Soon, all three were seated around a laptop as they ate. On the loaded page was the words: Triple Ninja Blog. And it was completely blank.

Together, they left to therapy. In the room, their therapist, Ella, sat on a swivel chair.

"How's your blog going?" She asked when they all settled down.

"Um, good?" Jay replied with a small smile.

"You haven't wrote a word," she said, looking at each of them. "Have you?"

"Well, you just wrote," Cole replied, pointing at her notebook. "'Still has trust issues.'"

"And you read my handwriting upside down," Ella answered, smiling. The trio shifted. "See what I mean?"

"Look," she continued. "You're all soldiers, fighters, and it's going to take a while to adjust to civilian life; and writing a blog about everything that happens to you will honestly help you."

They looked at one another, all wearing different expressions.

Kai then spoke.

"Nothing ever happens to us."


	2. A Study in Pink

Inside a press conference room, Detective Inspector Lloyd and his co-worker, Officer Misako, are being interviewed on account of three "serial" suicides. One was a young boy in a sports stadium, a middle aged man in an office, and a young female junior minister at a building site.

"The body of Beth Davenport," Off. Misako began. "Junior Minister for Transport, was found late last night on a building site in Greater Ninjago City. Preliminary investigations suggest that this was suicide. We can confirm that this apparent suicide closely resembles those of Jeffrey Patterson and James Phillimore. In the light of this, these incidents are now being treated as linked. The investigation is ongoing but Detective Inspector Lloyd will take questions now."

The reporters attention turned to the detective, one immediately firing a question.

"How _can_ they be linked?"

"Well," Lloyd said, then quickly licked his lips. "They all took the same poison, they were all in abandoned areas they had no reason to be, and did not suffer from depr-"

"But," the same reporter interrupted him. "You can't have serial suicides!"

"Well, apparently you can," Lloyd deadpanned with a blank expression.

"These people..." another shy reporter began, pointing at the pictures behind Lloyd and Misako. "Can they be linked, in any way?"

"There's no link been found _yet_ ," Lloyd responded confidently. "But we're looking for it. There has to _be_ one."

Suddenly, everyone's cellphones buzzed a text alert. All their faces became confused.

"If you've received a text," Misako said after glancing at her own phone, standing up. "Please ignore it."

"It just says," the first reported remarked. "'Wrong!'"

All the other reporters nodded.

"Yeah, well, just ignore that," Misako replied. "Okay, if there are no more questions for Detective Inspector Lloyd, I'm going to bring this session to an end."

"But if they are suicides," the shy reporter said thoughtfully. "What _exactly_ are you investigating?"

"As I said," Lloyd sighed. "These ... these suicides are _clearly_ linked. Um, it's an ... it's an unusual situation. We've got our best people investigating-"

Another text alert for everyone.

"It says 'Wrong!' again!" Another reporter exclaimed.

Lloyd face palmed, and looked pleadingly at Misako through one eye.

"One more question," she sighed to the reporters.

"Is there any chance that these are murders, and if they are, is this the work of a serial killer?" A random reporter called out.

"I ..." Lloyd hesitated. "I know that you like writing about these, but these do appear to be suicides. We know the difference. The, um, the poison was _clearly_ self-administered."

"Yes," the reporter paused. "But if they _are_ murders, how do people keep themselves safe?"

"Well, don't commit suicide." Lloyd answered. Misako hit her head on the desk. "Erm... Obviously this is a frightening time for people, but all anyone has to do is exercise reasonable precautions. We are all as safe as we want to be."

The phones ago buzzed again, and everyone's read 'Wrong!'. Well, not everyone's.

Lloyd's buzzed a few seconds later, with the message:

 _You know where to find me._

 _ZJ_

Growling, Lloyd pocketed his phone and stood.

"Thank you," he said, and then he and Misako rushed from the room.

"You've _got_ to stop him doing that," she told him as they ran through the police station. "He's making us look like idiots."

"Well," Lloyd growled. "If you tell me _how_ he does it, I will!"

* * *

In a park, Kai, Cole and Jay were strolling around, Jay having much more difficulty than the other two and using a cane. He passed an elderly man, who nearly fell off the bench.

"Jay!" He called. When Jay did not respond, he tried again. "Jay Walker!"

Finally turning around, Jay's eyes widened in shock.

"Bless my soul!" He exclaimed. "Sensei Wu! I almost didn't recognize you at all!"

"I noticed," Mr. Wu said with a smile. "Are Kai and Cole still around?"

"Yeah," Jay replied, and nodded. Turning to the two rushing figures he smiled. "There they are."

"Jay," Cole panted. "We thought you disappeared on us."

"Woah, is that Mr. Wu?" Kai asked incredulously. "It's been ages!"

"Yeah, I grew a beard," Wu said jokingly. "How about I treat my former pupils to coffee?"

In the coffee shop, they sat around a table, Jay trying his best to ignore his cane, and Cole hiding his shaking hand under the table. Kai and Wu were chatting.

"You still teaching at the academy?" He asked.

"Yes," Wu sighed. "Bright young things. G-d, I hate them!"

They all shared a laugh.

"What about you all?" Wu went on. "Just staying in town 'til you get yourselves sorted?"

"Sort of," Cole said uncomfortably. "We can't afford Ninjago City on army pension."

"And there's nowhere else you could stand to be..." Wu murmured. Jay nodded.

"Can't Nyck help?" Wu asked, turning to Kai.

"Too busy with the divorce," Kai said, avoiding looking at Wu in the eye.

"Why not get an apartment share?" Wu suggested.

"Who would want us as roommates?" Cole asked.

"You're the second person to ask me that today," Wu said with a laugh.

The trio shared a look.

"Who was the first?" Jay asked.

* * *

Inside a Hospital, a tall young man opens a body bag. His nearly white blonde hair falls over his eyes. Snapping up, he faces his robotic assistant.

"Pixal, how fresh?" He asked her.

"Just in," she responded, her robotic voice full of admiration for the young man. "Sixty-seven, natural causes."

"Very well," he sighed. "We'll start with the whip."

Soon, he is out of breath. PIXAL comes in with tea.

"Bad day?" She jokingly asked, looking at the body he had lashed out at.

"PIXAL," he replied with a little agrivation. "I need to know which bruises form in the next twenty minutes, a man's alibi depends on what results are. Text me. I'll be at the academy."

"Yes sir," she responded, only for him not to be in sight. "Seriously?"

Wu led the trio to the academy's lab.

"A bit different from when I learned here," Jay said, looking around.

"Obviously," Cole snorted.

"Wu, can I borrow your phone?" The young man bending over a petri dish with a pipette suddenly said, startling them all. "There's no signal on mine."

"Sorry, I left it in my coat," Wu shrugged.

"Here," Kai said, extending out his own. "You can use mine."

"Thank you," he responded, flipping the phone into text mode.

"These are some of my former students," Wu said. "Kai, who gave you his phone, Jay, he has the cane, and the last one is Cole."

He nodded, then turned his attention to the text he was writing.

"Returning from war against the Overlord or Serpentine?" He asked them, returning the cell phone. Kai stiffened, Cole's jaw dropped, and Jay dropped his cane.

"Overlord," Cole slowly replied. "But how did you kn-"

"How do you feel about the violin?" The man asked, completely ignoring the question.

"What?" Kai asked, confused.

"I play the violin when I'm thinking," he answered. "Sometimes I don't talk for days on end. Would that bother you? Potential flatmates should know the worst about each other."

He flashed a quick smile at the trio, who stared at him in shock.

"You..." Jay said, turning to Wu. "Told him about us?"

"Not a word," Wu said sincerely.

"Then who said any thing about apartment sharing?" Kai asked.

" _I_ did," the man cut them off, slipping on a silver trench coat. "Told Wu this morning that I must be a difficult man to find a roomate for. Now here he is just after lunch with old students, clearly just home from military service against the Overlord. Wasn't that difficult a leap."

"How did-" Cole began, only to be cut off again.

"I've got my eye on a nice little place in central Ninjago City. Together we ought to be able to afford it."

"Is that all?" Kai asked in disbelief. "We've just met, and now we're going to buy a flat?"

"Yes," the blond responded. "Problem?"

"Yes," Cole said matter of factly. "We know nothing about you, don't know where you want to meet, and don't even know your name."

"Well," he said, facing Cole. "I know you've been shot in the arm, attended dance school, but only for a short period of time, then immediately emersed yourself in physical training. You," he said turning to Jay. "Were shot in the leg, and you have a psychosomatic limp, and are ashamed your heritage." Turning to Kai he continued. "And you have been shot in the shoulder, and have a brother named Nyck. He's worried about you but you won't go to him for help because you don't approve of him – possibly because he's an alcoholic or depressed; more likely because he recently walked out on his _husband_. I also know that you never knew your parents. I think that's enough to go on."

"Wait!" Jay called, and he popped his head back into the lab.

"The name's Zane Julien and the address is two two one B Ninja Street."

He click winked at them, and left without further ado. The trio turned to Wu who smiled at them.

"Yeah," he said. "He's always like that."

* * *

They returned to their hotel room, barely talking at all on the way. Kai checked out what Zane had sent from his phone, and it just confused them more. It said; If brother has green ladder, arrest him. ZJ.

Came dinner time, and they took out the laptop and searched Zane Julien.

* * *

 _I_ n an unknown location, a woman wearing a pink overcoat and pink high-heeled shoes slowly reaches down with a trembling hand towards a clear glass bottle which is standing on the bare floorboards and which contains three large capsules. Her fingers close around the bottle and she slowly lifts it off the floor, her hand still shaking.

* * *

The trio walked to Ninja Street, and as they were about to knock on the door, a black cab pulled up and Zane hopped out. He paid the cabbie and waved at them.

"Mr. Julian," Cole said.

"Call me Zane," he replied with a dismissive gesture.

"Well, this is a prime area," Jay said, looking over the house with admiration. "Must be expensive."

"The landlady," Zane said, facing the three. "Mystake, is giving us a special deal. She... Owes me a favor. A few years back, her husband got himself sentenced to death in Florida. I was able to help out."

"Wait," Kai said, impressed. "You stopped her husband from being executed?"

"Oh no," Zane replied smoothly then flashed a smile. "I _ensured_ it."

The three some exchanged a glance, and the door was opened by an elderly lady.

"Zane dear!" She exclaimed, and gave him a brief hug. "Ah, these are the three?"

"Yes," Zane responded. "Kai, Jay and Cole."

"Come up, dears," Mystake said with a flourish of arms. "I got the four bedroom suite ready for you all. Except for Zane's. He already got it ready himself."

Kai and Cole trotted up the stairs. Jay prepared himself to do the same, when Zane slung his arm under Jay's, and "assisted" him in this way up the stairs, taking three at a time. They stared at him when he joined them with Jay, after all, it's not everyday someone can carry another man up two flights of stairs.

"Shall we?" He said, pushing open the door, ignoring their shocked looks. They only became more shocked when they saw the immaculate condition of the room. There was one messy corner in the room, with an armchair covered in papers, and a laptop sat on top of it all. Three armchairs surrounded it, in perfect distance to view everyone who sat in them. A cawing noise attracted their attention to the fireplace, where a bird freely walked.

"That's a falcon," Jay pointed out.

"A friend of mine," Zane replied. "When I say friend, I mean companion."

"We looked you up last night," Kai said. Zane turned to him after taking the papers off his chair and putting them on the fireplace. "Found your website, the Science of Deduction."

"And?" Zane earnestly asked, obviously valuing their input. Their 'are you kidding me?' looks told him what they thought.

"You said," Cole deadpanned. "You could identify a software designer by his tie and an airline pilot by his left thumb."

"I can," Zane insisted. "After all, I did figure out about dance school, parent ashamedness, and brother problems by glancing at each of you."

"How!?" They said in unison. Zane turned to the window and smiled.

"What do you think about these suicides, Zane?" Mystake asked, entering the room with a newspaper. "Three of them, all the same."

"Four."

They all stared at Zane, then saw a police car pull up. Someone barged out.

"There's been a fourth," Zane said, whipping around. "And something is different!"

When he finished speaking, a young blond rushed up the stairs.

"Where?" Zane immediately asked him.

"Brixton," he huffed. "Lauriston Gardens."

"What's new about this one?" Zane questioned, not missing a beat. "You wouldn't have come to get me if there wasn't something different."

"You know how they never leave notes?"

"Yeah."

"This one did. Will you come?"

"Who's on forensics?"

"Garmadon."

"Garmadon won't work with me," Zane grimaced.

"He won't be your assistant."

"I need assistants," he replied, eyes flicking to the trio.

"Will you come?" The DI demanded.

"Not in a police car," Zane sighed. "I'll be right behind you."

"Thanks," the DI said gratefully, then hurried out. As soon as the police car vanished from sight, Zane leapt into the air and clenched his fists triumphantly before twirling around the room happily.

"Brilliant!" He exclaimed. "Yes! Ah, four serial suicides, and now a note! Oh, it's Dragon's Day! Mystake, I'll be out late. Might need some food."

"I'm your landlady, dear," she adomished him. "Not your housekeeper.

"Something cold will do," Zane continued, walking out of sight. "You three, make yourselves at home. Lemonade's in the fridge."

"Ah," Mystake said with a shake of her head. "Look at him, always dashing about." She turned to Jay, who had settled himself in the light blue arm chair. "I'll get you some of that lemonade. You rest your leg."

" _Damn_ my leg!" Jay shouted, and everyone jumped. His flush of anger immediately turned into a blush of embarrassment. "I'm sorry..."

"Don't worry about it," Mystake said with an air of understanding.

"Hey guys," Kai said, picking up the newspaper. "Check this out!"

They crowded around him, and saw that Zane's visitor was Detective Inspector Lloyd, who was renowned for his genius.

"You're soldiers. Front liners in fact."

The trio looked up to see Zane in front of them.

"And you," he continued, pointing at Jay. "Are a doctor. An Army doctor."

"Yes," Jay responded, getting up.

"Are you any good?"

"He's the best!" Kai stated with pride.

"You've all seen a lot of injuries, then?" He continued to ask. "And violent deaths?"

They stiffly nodded.

"Seen a bit of trouble too, I'll bet," he added.

"Enough for a lifetime," Cole darkly responded. "Far too much."

"So..." Zane said with a smirk. "Wanna see some more?"

"Oh _G-d_ yes," they said in unison.

He nodded, and turned on his heels. The three others quickly followed.

"Sorry Mystake," Jay called out. "No need for lemonade. We're going."

"All of you?" She incredulously asked.

"Of course!" Zane answered for them turning to her. "Impossible suicides? Four of them? There's no point sitting at home when there's finally something _fun_ going on!"

"Look at you," she clucked. "All happy. It's not decent."

She couldn't help but smile, though, as he turned away and headed for the front door again.

"Who cares about decent?" He said with a flourish of arms. "The game, Mystake, is on! Taxi!"

A black van pulled over. They piled in, and for a few moments, no-one spoke.

"Okay," Zane said suddenly. "You have questions. Ask away."

"Yeah," Jay burst. "Where are we going?"

"Crime scene," Zane smoothly answered. "Next."

"Who are you?" Cole asked, earning a few stares. "Well, I mean, what do you do? Job wise."

"What do you think?" He asked, hiding a smirk.

"I'd say private detective..." Kai hesitantly spoke. "But police don't go to private detectives."

"I'm a _consulting_ detective," Zane cleared up. "Only one in the world. I invented the job."

"What exactly is that?" Kai asked.

"It means," Zane explained. "When the police are out of their depth, which is always, they consult me."

"Ha!" Jay exclaimed. "The police don't go to amateurs!"

Zane stared at him for a moment, then continued.

"When I met you for the first time yesterday, I said, 'Overlord or serpentine?' You looked surprised."

"Yeah," Cole said. "How did yo-"

"I didn't know, I saw," Zane interrupted again. "Your haircuts, the way you hold yourselves, says military. But your conversation as you, Jay, entered the room ...  
 _(Flashback to the lab.)_  
 _"A bit different from when I learned here," Jay said, looking around._

"... said trained at Wu's, so Army doctor – obvious. Your faces are tanned but no tan above the wrists. You've all been abroad, but not sunbathing. Your limp's really bad when you walk but you don't ask for a chair when you stand, like you've forgotten about it, so it's at least partly psychosomatic. That says the original circumstances of the injury were traumatic. Wounded in action, then. Wounded in action, suntan – Can only be Serpentine or Overlord."

"Then there's your brother, Kai," Zane went on. "Your phone. It's expensive, e-mail enabled, MP3 player, but you're looking for a flatshare – you wouldn't waste money on this. It's a gift, then. Scratches. Not one, many over time. It's been in the same pocket as keys and coins. The man sitting next to me wouldn't treat his one luxury item like this, so it's had a previous owner. Next bit's easy. You know it already."

"The engraving..." Kai murmured.

"Yes," Zane nodded. "To Nyck. There's no last name, so didn't know parents. From Dareth Brown. XXX. Nyck is clearly a family member who's given you his old phone. Not your father, this is a young man's gadget. _Could_ be a cousin, but you're a war hero who can't find a place to live. Unlikely you've got an extended family, certainly not one you're close to, so brother it is. Now, Dareth. Who's Dareth? Three kisses says it's a romantic attachment. The expense of the phone says husband, not boyfriend. He must have given it to him recently – this model's only six months old. Marriage in trouble then – six months on he's just given it away. If Dareth'd left _him_ , he would have kept it. People do – sentiment. But no, he wanted rid of it. He left _him_. He gave the phone to _you_ : that says he wants you to stay in touch. You're looking for cheap accommodation, but you're not going to your brother for help: that says you've got problems with him. Maybe you _don't_ like his depression issues, and drinking."

"How can you _possibly_ know about the depression and drinking?" Kai angrily asked.

"Shot in the dark," Zane said with a smile. "Good one, though. Power connection: tiny little scuff marks around the edge of it. Every night he goes to plug it in to charge but his hands are shaking. You never see those marks on a sober man's phone; never see a drunk's or depressed's without them. As for dance school," he stated, turning to face Cole. "Your posture shows it, yet you quickly covered it with muscle."

He paused, then finished.

"You were right, Jay."

"About what?"

"The police don't consult amatures."

"That was amazing," Kai said.

Zane looked round, apparently so surprised that he couldn't even reply for the next four seconds.

"You really think so?"

"Of _course_ it was!" Cole exclaimed. "It was extraordinary; it was quite extraordinary!"

"That's not what people usually say..." Zane quietly remarked.

"What do they usually say?" Jay asked.

Zane hesitated for a second then said:

"'Piss off'!"

They all laughed until they arrived.

"So Kai, did I miss anything?" Zane asked when they did, and as they walked to the crime scene.

"Nyck and me don't get on," Kai sighed. "And we never have. Dareth and Nyck split up three months ago and they're getting a divorce; and Nyck is a depressed drinker."

"Spot on, then," Zane said smugly. "I didn't expect to be right about everything."

"And Nyck is a nickname for Nya."

Zane froze.

"What are we supposed to be doing here?" Cole asked.

"Sister!"

"Seriously," Jay added. "What are we doing here?"

"There's always something," Zane muttered, walking past them. Misako was standing with a walkie talkie by police tape.

"Hello, Freak," she said maliciously.

"I'm here to see Detective Inspector Lloyd," he informed her, ignoring the title she gave him.

"Why?"

"I was invited."

" _Why?_ "

"I think he wants me to take a look."

Sarcasm dripped from Zane's voice.

"Well," Misako said with a hideously false smile. "You know what _I_ think, don't you?"

"Always, Misako," Zane said with a bow, popping up on the other side of the tape.

"Who are these people?" She demanded, turning to the trio on the other side of the tape.

"Colleagues of mine," Zane said, clearly getting irritated. "Kai, Cole and Jay."

"Colleagues?" Misako repeated the word like it was a joke. "How do _you_ get colleagues?!"

"Would it be better if we just waited and..." Cole began, only to be cut off. (Again.)

"No." Zane flatly ordered, lifting the tape for them to cross.

"Freak's here. Bringing him in," Misako sighed into her radio, while she lead them towards the house. Zane looked all around the area and at the ground as they approached. As they reached the walk way into the house, a man dressed in a coverall came out to "greet" them.

"Ah, Garmadon," Zane said with a falsely pleasant air. "Meet Kai, Jay and Cole."

"This is a crime scene," Garmadon said distastefully. "I don't eat it contaminated, Freak. Are we clear on that?"

"Crystal," Zane said, completely ignoring the man. "Come on you three."

He led them into house, and passed them all cover all's. Lloyd exited a room, and spared a glance at them.

"Who're they?" He asked, slipping on plastic gloves and motioning with his head.

"They're with me," Zane replied, snapping on his own pair.

" _Who_ are they?!" Lloyd impatiently demanded.

"I said that they were with me," came the response. "And they can speak, Lloyd."

Kai tapped Zane's shoulder, the latter which instantly turned to face the former.

"Yes, Kai?"

"Aren't you going to put one on?" He asked, tugging at the sleeve of his plastic jump suit.

In response, Zane raised an eyebrow and folded his arms before swiftly turning to face Lloyd.

"I'll take that as a no," Jay whispered to Kai. Cole nodded.

"Where's the body?" Zane was asking.

"Upstairs," Lloyd answered, and Jay groaned. Zane face palmed, but proceeded to assist Jay in a similar manner as before, but less flamboyantly. "I can give you two minutes."

"May need longer," Zane sighed.

"Her name's Jennifer Wilson according to her credit cards," Lloyd continued, ignoring his remark. "We're running them now for contact details. Hasn't been here long. Some kids found her."

As he spoke, he pushed open a door. The room was empty of furniture except for a battered and ruined rocking horse in the far corner. Emergency portable lighting has been set up, presumably by the police. Scaffolding poles held up part of the ceiling near where a couple of large holes have been knocked through one of the walls. A woman's body was lying face down on the bare floorboards in the very middle of the room. She was wearing a bright pink overcoat and high-heeled pink shoes. Her hands were flat on the floor on both sides of her head. Zane walked a few steps into the room and then stopped, holding one hand out in front of himself as he focused on the corpse. Cole shook his head sadly, Kai covered his mouth in a thoughtful pose, and Jay wrung his hands together.

"Shut up," Zane suddenly said, glaring daggers at Lloyd.

"But I didn't say anything!" He protested.

"You're thinking," Zane growled. "It's annoying."

The four others in the room exchanged a surprised look as Zane stepped slowly forward until he reached the side of the corpse. His attention was immediately drawn to the fact that scratched into the floorboards near the woman's left hand was the word "Rache". His eyes flicked to her fingernails where the index and middle nails were broken and ragged at the ends, the pink nail polish chipped in stark comparison to her other nails which are still immaculate. The woman's index finger rested at the bottom of the 'e', as if she was still trying to carve into the floor when she died. He slipped off her wedding ring, then put it back.

"Did you get anything?" Lloyd asked hopefully.

"Not much," Zane nonchalantly replied. "Jay ex-"

Before he could speak, Garmadon cut him off.

"Rache. German for revenge."

Zane's face darkened as he strode quickly to the door.

"Yes, thank you for your input," he growled, then slammed the door in his face.

"She's German?" Lloyd questioned.

"Of course not!" Zane scoffed, then quickly checked something on his phone. "She's from out of town, though. Intended to stay in Ninjago City for one night before returning home to Jamanakai Village. So far, so obvious."

"Obvious?!" Jay echoed. Zane merely nodded in acknowledgement, then turned to him.

"Jay, you are a doctor, please examine for the cause of death."

"No!" Lloyd shouted, then regained his composure. "Wait, no, we have a whole team right outside. They-"

"Won't work with me," Zane cut him off.

"I'm breaking every rule letting _you_ in here," Lloyd counter argued.

"Because you need me," Zane said quietly.

They stared at each other for a moment, then Lloyd lowered his eyes.

"Yes," he admitted, clenching his hands into fists and gritting his teeth. "I do. God help me. Do what he wants."

He turned on his toes, then exited the room, closing the door behind himself. Zane motioned for Jay to proceed.

"What are we doing here?" Kai asked softly, folding his arms. "We're supposed to be helping you pay the rent, not make what ever point you're trying to prove."

"Yeah, well, this is more fun."

"Fun?!" Cole echoed. "There's a dead woman on the floor! Yeah, so fun!"

"Your hand is not shaking," Zane absent-mindedly noted. "Jay?"

While the three were talking, Jay finished analysing the cause of death.

"Yeah..." he said uncomfortably. Lloyd walked back in. "Asphyxiation, probably. Passed out, choked on her own vomit. Can't smell any alcohol on her. It could have been a seizure; possibly drugs. Most likely she's another one of those suicides."

"Zane – two minutes, I said," Lloyd stated, clearing his throat. "I need everything you've got."

"Well," Zane thought a moment then proceeded. "Victim is in her late thirties. Professional person, going by her clothes; I'm guessing something in the media, going by the frankly alarming shade of pink. Travelled from Jamanakai Village today, intending to stay in Ninjago City for one night. It's obvious from the size of her suitcase."

"Suitcase?" Lloyd questioned, seeing none in the room.

"Yes, suitcase," Zane impatiently continued, then turned a shade of pink. "Erm... she's been married at least ten years, but not happily. She's had a string of lovers but none of them knew she was married."

"Good G-d, Zane!" Lloyd exclaimed. "Are you making this up?!"

"Her wedding ring," Zane said pointedly while pointing at it. "Ten years old at least. The rest of her jewellery has been regularly cleaned, but not her wedding ring. State of her marriage right there. The inside of the ring is shinier than the outside – that means it's regularly removed. The only polishing it gets is when she works it off her finger. It's not for work; look at her nails. She doesn't work with her hands, so what or rather who _does_ she remove her rings for? Clearly not _one_ lover; she'd never sustain the fiction of being single over that amount of time, so more likely a string of them. Simple."

"Brilliant!" Cole shouted, eyes wide. When everyone stared at him, his dark skin became darker. "Sorry."

"Jamanakai Village?" Lloyd proceeded.

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Upon receiving a similar reaction to Cole's outburst, he smiled and looked at each of them. "Dear God, what is it like in your funny little brains? It must be so boring. Her coat: it's slightly damp. She's been in heavy rain in the last few hours. No rain anywhere in Ninjago City in that time. Under her coat collar is damp, too. She's turned it up against the wind. She's got an umbrella in her left-hand pocket but it's dry and unused: not just wind, _strong_ wind – too strong to use her umbrella. We know from her suitcase that she was intending to stay overnight, so she must have come a decent distance but she can't have travelled more than two or three hours because her coat still hasn't dried. So, where has there been heavy rain and strong wind within the radius of that travel time? Jamanakai Village."

That's fantastic!" Jay exclaimed with admiration.

"D'you know you do that out loud?" Zane asked, his expression slightly confused.

"Sorry. I'll stop."

"No it's... fine."

"Why d'you keep saying suitcase?" Lloyd asked, breaking the awkward silence. Zane spun around, looking over the room.

"Yes, where is it? She must have had a phone or an organiser. Find out who Rachel is."

"She was writing Rachel?" Lloyd was entirely befuddled.

"No, she was writing an angry note in German," Zane sarcastically remarked. Jay snickered. "Of _course_ she was writing Rachel; no other word it can be. Question is: why did she wait until she was dying to write it?"

"How d'you know she had a suitcase?" Lloyd pressed.

"Back of the right leg:" Zane explained, pointing. "There are tiny splash marks on the heel and calf, not present on the left. She was dragging a wheeled suitcase behind her with her right hand. Don't get that splash pattern any other way. Smallish case, going by the spread. Case that size, woman this clothes-conscious: could only be an overnight bag, so we know she was staying one night. Where's it?"

"There wasn't a case," Lloyd said quietly. "There was never any suitcase."

"Suitcase! Did anyone find a suitcase? Was there a suitcase in this house?" Zane yelled as he ran out and down the stairs.

"No!" Lloyd shouted following in close persuit.

"But they take the poison themselves;" Zane yelled back. "They chew, swallow the pills themselves. There are clear signs. Even you lot couldn't miss them."

"Thanks," Lloyd dryly remarked. "And?"

"It's murder," he seethed. "All of them. I don't know how, but they're not suicides, they're killings – _serial_ killings. We've got ourselves a serial killer. I _love_ those. There's always something to look forward to."

"Why are you saying that?!" Lloyd nearly screamed. "How are you sure?!"

"Her case!" Zane growled and shouted at the same time. "Come on, where is her case? Did she eat it?! Someone else was here, and they took her case. So the killer must have driven her here; and then forgot the case was in the car."

"She could have checked into a hotel," Kai suggested. "And then she left her case there."

"No," Zane insisted and stamped his foot. "She never got to the hotel. Look at her hair. She colour-coordinates her lipstick and her shoes. She'd never have left any hotel with her hair still looking..."

He froze, and his eyes lit up.

"Oh. Oh! Yes!"

"Zane?" Cole asked cautiously. "What is it?"

"Serial killers are always hard," Zane said, with a ferocious grin. "You have to wait for them to make a mistake."

"We can't just wait!" Kai shouted, horrified Zane suggest this.

"We're done waiting!" Zane reassured them. "Look at her, really _look_! Houston, we _have_ a mistake. Get on to Jamanakai Village: find out who Jennifer Wilson's family and friends were. Find Rachel!"

He dashed out of view, and Lloyd called after him.

"Of course, yeah – but what mistake?!"

Zane zoomed back in their views, his rage clearly etched on his face.

"PINK!"

Cole and Kai assisted Jay down the stairs, each lost in their own thoughts of what just occurred. They passed Misako on their way out.

"He's gone," she informed them.

"Zane Julien?" Kai asked in confirmation.

"Yeah," Misako said and nodded. "He does that."

"Ah," Cole uncertainly sighed. "Where exactly are we?"

"Brixton," she told him. "If you want a cab you can follow the main road."

"Thanks," Cole said gratefully, and they went on their way.

"But you're not his friend," she nonchalantly remarked. "None of you are. He doesn't have friends. So who are you?"

"Nobodies," Kai quickly stated.

"Okay," Misako slowly said, not buying it. "A bit of advice then: stay away from that guy."

"Why?" Jay asked before Kai or Cole could stop him. Cole camel kicked him.

"You know why he's here?" She asked, flashing a sly grin, ignoring what just happened. "He's not paid or anything. He likes it. He gets off on it. The weirder the crime, the more he gets off. And you know what? One day just showing up won't be enough. One day we'll be standing round a body and Zane Julien'll be the one that put it there."

"Why?" Jay asked again, batting away Cole's foot with his cane.

"Because he's a psychopath," Misako replied matter of factly. "And psychopaths get bored."

"Misako!" Lloyd called from somewhere inside the building.

"Stay away from Zane Julien!" she warned them.

They continued. For some reason, every payphone they went near rang, and stopped when they passed. Soon, they came near one that would be big enough for them all, and Cole determinedly shoved them all inside and picked up the phone.

"Hello?" He said into the receiver, putting it on speaker.

"There is a security camera on the building to your left," a man's voice informed them. "Do you see it?"

"Who is this?" Kai asked, mystified.

"Do you see it?"

"Yep," Jay answered. It moved to focus on them.

"There's three more on the buildings around you. Watch."

Soon, all four focused on the three men in a phone booth.

"How are you doing this?" Cole demanded.

A black cab pulled up to them.

"Go in the car," the man continued. "I'd typically make a threat, but I'm sure your position is quite clear."

The driver of the car was a stony faced man. He pretty much ignored all his passengers.

"Any point in asking where we're going?" Kai asked.

"None at all," the driver responded. Some time later, the car pulled up into an almost-empty warehouse. A man in a suit was standing in the centre of the area, leaning nonchalantly on an umbrella as he watched the car stop and the trio get out. In front of the man was a straight-backed armless chair facing him. He gestured to it with the point of his umbrella as Jay and the others limped towards him, leaning heavily on his cane.

"Have a seat," he said. "Jay Walker."

"I'm fine," Jay retorted.

"Your leg must be killing you," the man stated.

"I'm _fine,_ " Jay repeated through gritted teeth. "And the phone booth thing was clever and all, but we all have phones."

"When one is avoiding the attention of Zane Julien, one learns to be discreet, hence this place." He paused, and glanced at each of their defiant faces. "None of you seem very afraid..."

"Yeah?" Kai asked in a 'seriously?' manner. "You don't seem very scary."

"Ah, yes," the man chuckled. "The bravery of the soldier. Bravery is by far the kindest word for stupidity, don't you think? What is your connection to Zane?"

"We met yesterday," Jay growled. "We barely know him."

"But you're already sharing an apartment and solving crimes together."

"Who are you?" Kai demanded.

"An interested party."

"Interested in Zane?" Kai continued. "Why? You're obviously not friends."

"You've met him," the man said sternly. "How many 'friends' do you imagine he has? I am the closest thing to a friend that Zane Julien is capable of having."

"And that is?" Kai prompted.

"An enemy."

"Enemy?" Jay echoed.

"In _his_ mind, certainly," the man sighed. "If you were to ask him, he'd probably say his _arch_ -enemy. He does love to be dramatic."

"Well," Jay said sarcastically with a wave of his arms. "Thank God _you're_ above all that."

The man frowned as Kai's phone trilled a text alert.

 _Ninja Street._

 _Come at once if convenient._

 _ZJ_

"Am I distracting you?" The man asked.

"Nope," Kai replied, putting his phone away.

"Do you plan to continue your association with Zane?"

"I could be wrong..." Jay said with a touch of anger. "But I think that's none of your business."

"It is," the man insisted.

"Um, no." Jay flatly rebounded. "It really isn't."

"Well, if you _do_ move into, um..." here he closed his eyes, as though to dig into his memory. "Two hundred and twenty-one _B_ Ninja Street, I'd be happy to pay you a meaningful sum of money on a regular basis to ease your way."

"Why?" Kai asked.

"Because none of you are wealthy."

"In exchange for what?" Kai fired another question.

"Information. Nothing you'd feel uncomfortable with revealing, through."

"Why?" Yet again, Kai.

"I worry about him. Constantly."

"That's nice of you," Jay remarked sarcastically.

"But I would prefer for various reasons that my concern go unmentioned. We have what you might call a ... difficult relationship."

Kai's cell buzzed again with another text.

 _If inconvenient, come anyways._

 _ZJ_

"No."

Everyone looked at Cole, who spoke for the first time.

"We will not accept this offer, no matter how much. This is not a matter of loyalty, but of respect for privacy and ethicality."

The man sighed, and pulled out a notebook. Flicking through its pages, he evaluated Cole, then began to laugh.

"What?" Cole demanded.

"Could it be?" The man continued to howl with laughter. "A man with trust issues trusts Zane Julien?!"

"I never said I trusted him..." Cole said, looking slightly unnerved.

"I imagine people have already warned you to stay away from him, but I can see from your left hand that's not going to happen."

Cole stared in disbelief at the man in front of him.

"My what?"

"Show me."

Cole raised his hand, and the man strode over and took it, examining it.

"Remarkable," the man said when he let go. "Most people blunder round this city, and all they see are streets and shops and cars. When you walk with Zane Julien, you see the battlefield. You've seen it already, haven't you?"

"What the bloody heck does that have to do with my hand?!"

"You have an intermittent tremor in your left hand. Your therapist thinks it's post-traumatic stress disorder. She thinks you're haunted by memories of your military service."

Cole took a step back, staring with wide and confused eyes at the person before him.

"Who the hell _are_ you?" He asked angrily, feeling his pulse quicken. "How do you know that?"

"Fire her. She's got it the wrong way round. You're under stress right now and your hand is perfectly steady."

All eyes were on his hand now. It clenched, and so did Cole's jaw.

"You're not haunted by the war, Cole Brookstone ... you miss it." He leaned in, so only Cole could hear his next whisper. "Welcome back."

Their driver walked in, just as Kai received another message.

 _Could be dangerous._

 _ZJ_

"I'm to take you home," he informed them. "Address?"

"We'll tell you in the car," Cole said through his still gritted teeth.

When they got in, Cole surprised then by asking to go to the hotel they had been at, only for him to tell them to wait in the car. He returned with four suitcases, then instructed the driver to go to Ninja Street.

"What's in the fourth?" Jay asked, pointing.

"Firearms," Cole responded, pursing his lips tightly. "He said something about danger, so we're talking our guns. We'd get them anyways, but now it's a good time."

When they entered Ninja Street, a pleasant aroma greeted them. They entered the kitchen, to see the table laden with delicacies, and a pie sitting in the oven, but Zane was nowhere in sight. Kai pointedly sniffed the air, and caught another scent.

"Come on," he muttered, leading them to the living room. In the center of the room, Zane was sitting Indian, the only lighting were two candles, with three incense sticks burning, giving the room a very Zen appearance. His eyes snapped open, and he smiled at them, getting up from his position in one fluid motion. With a wave of hands he extinguished the candles and incense, leading into the softly lit kitchenette dining room.

"I made this to commemorate our first night in Ninja Street," he said, blushing slightly. "That's why I dashed off. When you didn't come when I anticipated, I texted to see if you were alright. Then twice more. Who did you meet?"

"Erm..." Kai stuttered. "We met a friend of yours."

"A friend?" Zane's eyebrows shot up while he spoke, as though he in shock.

"An enemy," Cole said, nudging Kai.

"Oh," Zane sighed. "Which one?"

"Your arch enemy, according to him," Jay answered. "Do people have arch enemies?"

"Did he offer you money to spy on me?" Zane frighteningly accurately asked.

"Yes," Cole replied, covering Kai's mouth.

"Did you take it?"

"No," Jay answered.

"Pity," Zane sighed again, then smiled. "We could have split the fee. Think it through next time."

They all laughed, and began to eat.

"This is delicious!" Jay exclaimed. "So you're a genius and chef!"

Zane just nodded. Though they spoke while eating, Zane was relatively quiet compared rest of them.

"Can I borrow one of your phones?" He asked as he took out the pie from the oven.

"Sure," Kai shrugged, prepping to type the message himself.

Zane told him the number, and then conveyed the message to him.

"What happened Lauriston Gardens? I must have blacked out. I'm at Ninja Street now."

Kai looked at him funny, then typed and sent the message.

"Come," he told them, leading them into the living room, leaving the pie on the table to cool. He slid out from under his seat a pink suitcase, then smirked. "Perhaps I should mention I didn't kill her."

"How did you get her case then?" Kai challenged.

"By looking. The killer must have driven her to Lauriston Gardens. He could only keep her case by accident if it was in the car. Nobody could be seen with this case without drawing attention – particularly a man, which is statistically more likely – so obviously he'd feel compelled to get rid of it the moment he noticed he still had it. Wouldn't have taken him more than five minutes to realise his mistake. I checked every back street wide enough for a car five minutes from Lauriston Gardens and anywhere you could dispose of a bulky object without being observed. Took me less than an hour to find the right skip."

"Pink," Cole breathed. "You got all that because you realized the case would be pink?! Why didn't I think of that?"

"Because you are an idiot," Zane huffed. Cole looked offended. "Don't look at me like that. Practically everyone is. But look at the case. What's missing?" When none of them responded, dumbfounded, he continued. "Her phone. Where's her mobile phone? There was no phone on the body, there's no phone in the case. We know she had one – that's her number there; you just texted it."

"Maybe she left it at home?" Jay nervously suggested.

"She never would," Zane shook his head. "She's had a string of lovers, there's no way she'd her phone out of her sight. Question is, where is her phone now? Maybe she left it when she left her case. Maybe he took it from her for some reason. Either way, the balance of probability is the murderer has her phone."

"Sorry, what are we doing?" Jay asked, lost.

"Did I just text a murderer?!" Kai asked, horrified.

"What good will _that_ do?" Cole asked, annoyed.

As if on cue, Kai's phone rang. The number was blocked.

"That Cole," Zane responded, smirking. "A few hours after his last victim, and now he receives a text that can only be from her. If somebody had just _found_ that phone they'd ignore a text like that, but the murderer ... would panic. This is his hunting ground, right here in the heart of the city. Now that we know his victims were abducted, that changes everything. Because all of his victims disappeared from busy streets, crowded places, but nobody saw them go. Think! Who do we trust, even though we don't know them? Who passes unnoticed wherever they go? Who hunts in the middle of a crowd?"

A bullet suddenly wizzed past Zane's head. Leaping to the window, he saw a cab squeal off.

"Let's go!"

They lept down the stairs at the speed of light, with Zane jumping the banister and missing the stairs entirely. Once outside, Zane immediately headed towards the retreating vehicle without bothering to check the road that he was running into, and is almost run over by a car coming from his left. The driver slams on the brakes and stops the car but Zane, always keen to take the quickest route, allows his forward impetus to carry him onto the top of the bonnet. He rolls over the bonnet, lands on his feet on the other side and then continued to run after the car. As the driver of the car Zane used as a gymnastics course angrily sounds his horn, Jay put one hand on the bonnet and vaulted over the front of the car, apologizing to the driver as he went, Cole flipped over the vehicle, and Kai followed him. They spotted Zane, who had ran a few yards up the road before realizing that he was not going to be able to catch the taxi car and slowed to a halt. The trio caught up and stopped beside him. He looked around the area, then suddenly muttered; "Right turn, one way, roadworks, traffic lights, bus lane, pedestrian crossing, left turn only, traffic lights." Having worked out the route, he lifted his head and saw a man unlocking the door to a nearby building. Instantly his mind flashed up a signpost saying,"ALTERNATIVE ROUTE." Zane raced towards the man and grabbed him, shoving him out of the way before charging into the building. The others soon followed, apologizing to the man as they went.

"Geez," Jay huffed, taking three stairs at a time. "For a guy with no military background, he has great stamina!"

Upon reaching the top of the stairs, Zane ran to the edge of the buildings roof and looked over before seeing a shorter metal spiral staircase leading down the side of the building to another door one floor lower. He slid down the stair's banister and climbed onto the railing before leaping across the gap to the next building. The following group scrambled onto the railing and followed. Zane ran across to the other side of the roof and again leapt across to the next building. Kai and Cole raced after him, but Jay then skidded to a halt when he realized that the gap may be too big for him to jump across. As if in sympathy, pedestrian traffic lights on the ground change from the green "It is safe to cross" sign to the red "Stop and wait" sign. Jay hesitated, looking down at the drop beneath him.

"Come on!" Cole shouted from the other side, standing with Kai and Zane. "We're losing him!"

Jay backed up a few paces and braced himself. As the traffic lights changed to "Safe to cross" again, he took a run-up and and leapt the gap. Dropping down onto a walkway along the side of the building, the boys ran onward. The taxi continued its journey on the ground, and the boys galloped down another metal staircase, then ran to another ledge and dropped down into an alleyway before running on again. Zane led them down the alleyway as, in his head, a map showed their location in comparison to where the taxi must've been. Their paths were beginning to get closer, and they were heading towards the point where they would've exited the alleyway onto D'Arblay Street, into which the taxi was just turning. Zane turned the corner and raced down the last part of the alley, only to see the taxi drive past the end, heading to the left.

"Argh," he growled, continuing onto the right turn, while the other three instinctively continued on the left. "This way!"

The trio turned around and headed back in the opposite direction, following Zane. In Zane's mind-map, he picked a new point where they could intercept the car. The boys ran down the street, taking a shorter route than the taxi which was being diverted by various road signs, taking it the longer way around. They headed down more alleyways and side streets towards the interception point in Wardour Street and finally, at the precise point which his mental map predicted, Zane raced out of a side street and hurled himself into the path of the approaching cab, which screeches to a halt as he crashed into the bonnet, hard. Scrabbling in his left coat pocket, Zane pulled out an I.D. badge and flashed it at the driver as he runs to the right hand side of the cab.

"Police! Open up!" he demanded. The passenger anxiously did so, and Zane scanned the interior of the cab. "No, wrong car. You're Californian, just came in from Santa Monica, and it's probably your first trip to London, right, going by your final destination and the route the cabbie was taking you?"

The man hesitated, then nodded.

"Ah, sorry," Zane replied, hiding his scowl. "Welcome to Ninjago City."

With that, the group trotted away, and once they were a safe distance away from the cab, Kai, Jay and Cole began to laugh hysterically.

"What's so funny?" Zane grumbled, clenching the ID badge in his hand. "That the real culprit got away?"

"No," Jay giggled. "'Welcome to Ninjago City, where the first thing that happens to you is you hit a cop!'"

"Speaking of which," Cole chuckled, swiping the badge from Zane and waving it in his face. "Where'd you get this, oh high and mighty consulting detective?"

Zane rolled his eyes and flipped the badge to face Cole, who's eyes widened in shock.

"I pick pocket Lloyd when he's annoying. You can keep that one, I've got plenty at the apartment."

* * *

At the apartment, they sagged against the wall, breathing heavily and laughing.

"That was ridiculous," Kai sighed.

"That was the most ridiculous thing we've ever done," Jay giggled.

"And you invaded the Stone Army," Zane added, smiling.

"That wasn't just us," Cole laughed.

"Oh, I forgot something," Zane said, snapping his fingers and leading them up the stairs, crashing into Mystake, who held out Jay's cane. Zane smirked and passed it to the stunned man.

"Zane," Mystake said, grabbing him by the shoulders, her voice full of distress and worry. "What have you done?"

"What do you mean?" the confused blond asked, tilting his head slightly.

"Upstairs," she replied, shaking her head. "Lloyd's there too."

"Too?" Zane repeated, then his face darkened as he put the pieces together. "Oh no..."

The four dashed up the stairs and into their apartment. Quite a few police men were inside, going through Zane's belongings.

"What are you doing?" Zane demanded, storming over to Lloyd, who had settled himself in Zane's white arm chair.

"I knew you'd find the case," he said smoothly, getting up. "So I-"

"You can't just enter our home!"

"And you can't withhold evidence."

"I was going to tell you, but I got shot at, and it distracted me!"

"And we didn't break into your flat. This is a drugs bust."

"Seriously?!" Jay nearly yelled at Lloyd. "This guy, a druggie?! Have you _met_ him?!"

"Jay..." Zane nervously muttered, biting his lip.

"Yeah," Kai added. "I'm pretty sure you could search this flat all day, you wouldn't find anything you could call 'recreational'."

"Guys, you can shut up now," Zane murmured.

"Zane?" Cole asked, tilting his eyes and narrowing his eyes. They met with Zane's for a split second, but in that minuscule time frame, Cole felt the self loathing emanating from the lanky detective. "No... _you_?"

"Just shut up," Zane pleaded, then turned angrily to Lloyd. "I'm not your sniffer dog."

"No, you're not," he replied smugly. "Garmadon is."

"Garma... shoot," Zane growled, just as the kitchen doors swung open to reveal him. "Garmadon, what are you doing here on a drugs bust?!"

"I volunteered," he venomously responded. "Nearly all of us did. It's nice to see you brought down a peg... or ten."

"Um, Zane?" Misako said, stepping into view holding a jar with white round things inside. "Are these _human_ eyes?!"

"Put those back!" he ordered.

"But they were in a microwave!"

"It's an experiment!"

"Look Zane," Lloyd smugly said, forcefully turning him around. "I know this is childish, but here's the deal: you could help us properly and I'll stand them down, or we'll search til we find anything."

"I'm clean!" Zane declared. "I don't even smoke!"

"We'll work together," Lloyd sighed. "We've found Rachel, Jennifer Wilson's only daughter. She was a stillborn."

"Her daughter?" Zane asked, ignoring the bust around him. "Why would she write her daughter's name? Why?"

"Never mind that," Garmadon huffed. "We found the case. According to _someone_ , the murderer has the case, and we found it in the hands of our favorite psychopath."

"I'm not a psychopath," Zane insisted firmly. "I'm a high-functioning sociopath. Do your research. Anyways, she's trying to tell us something..."

The noises were getting to Zane, and he shook his head to concentrate. Soon, he snapped.

"Shut up, everybody, shut up!" he shouted. Don't move, don't speak, don't breathe. I'm trying to think. Garmadon, face the other way. You're putting me off."

"My face is?!" the shocked detective asked.

"Everybody, be quiet and still," Lloyd instructed. "Garmadon, turn your back."

A few moments passed, then Zane's eyes lit up.

"AH HA!" He exclaimed, leaping in the air. They all stared, and Zane laughed. "Oh, look at you lot. You're all so vacant. Is it nice not being me? It must be _so_ relaxing. Anyways, she's cleverer than you lot and she's dead. Do you see, do you get it? She didn't _lose_ her phone, she never lost it. She _planted_ it on him. Since she has no laptop, she did business on it. Therefore, it's a smartphone, and can be tracked!"

With that, Zane clicked open his laptop, and pointed to the suitcase.

"Cole, what's her e-mail address?" he asked, going on a website. "It was written on the tag."

"Um, it's jennie dot pink at mephone dot org dot nj," he said.

"And the password is Rachel!" Zane said triumphantly, typing it in.

"So what, if we can track it?" Garmadon sneered. "She coul-"

"Garmadon, don't speak aloud," Zane ordered. "You lower the IQ of the whole street."

On the webpage, the phone tracker counted down until when the GPS would kick in.

"Zane dear, a cabbie is waiting for you," Mystake said worriedly. "He's rather persistent..."

"I didn't call a cab..." Zane muttered, as a figure stepped in behind Mystake. The man had a phone out, an awful pink shade. Zane's own words flicked through his head. _Who do we trust, even though we don't know them? Who passes unnoticed wherever they go? Who hunts in the middle of a crowd?_ The man, no, the cab driver, sent a text... and Zane's phone buzzed in his pocket. He read the message. _Come with me._ "I'm going out for some fresh air."

"Zane, you alright?" Kai asked.

"Yes," he instantly replied, halfway down the stairs. "I won't be long."

* * *

Later...

Inside 221b, the police were shouting. Zane supposedly left in a cab, and boy was Lloyd mad.

"Does it matter?" Misako asked. "Does _any_ of it? You know, he's just a lunatic, and he'll _always_ let you down, and you're wasting your time. _All_ our time."

"Fine," Lloyd huffed. "We're done 'ere."

"Come on," Kai muttered to the other two, when the police left, holding out Zane's laptop. The phone tracker beeped. "We're going to find him, because if we don't, he'll probably be found dead."

They ran together, and hoped that they were not going for a dead man.

* * *

Zane was rather undisturbed for a person with two guns aimed at his head. He say in the back of a cab, and two people, a man and woman, had held their firearms at him, as he spoke to the killer of the four people.

"Being a cab driver is an ingenious job for a serial killer," he commented. "All you are to everyone is the of a head. Nothing suspicious. A great advantage."

"Yes sir," the cabbie, Jeff said with a wide and wild grin. "You see, and most definitely know, that we are both proper geniuses. Not many people are. And we get bored. We need to use our smarts, and we need an audience. But I didn't kill those four people. I talked to them, and they killed themselves. You see, Mr. Julian, I don't want to kill you, it's like I killed one of the only people that could understand me. But I'm not going to kill you. I'm going to talk to you, and then..." he paused, obviously for dramatic effect. "You're going to kill yourself."

"Highly doubt it," Zane snorted. "You can't begin to comprehend me, no matter what you believe. As you are aware, I'm not all there."

"Oh, quit taking in riddles," the man on Zane's left snarled. "You're going to die anyways."

"I agree," the woman on his right sighed. "You were a dead man the moment you were born."

'It's funny,' Zane mused to himself. 'That one could be so right yet so wrong the same time.'

The remainder of the drive was uneventful. They drove to a college, closed for renovations, which had four identical buildings. At gunpoint, Zane was led into one of them, and in the building, into a classroom. He was forced to sit across the cab driver, and all the while, the two others held their guns.

"Well, Mr. Julian," Jeff said, wearing another disgustingly smug grin. "Here's where it gets fun. For me and my pals, at least. You... not so much."

Reaching into her bag, the woman drew out two glass jars, each with an identical pill inside. Zane instantly understood what was going on.

"So, we each week take a vial," Zane said flatly. "And one is the poison, and the other is not. Then you want us to have it at the same time. And in your eyes, whomever lives was smarter. That is not true. It's chance."

"No, it's not," the cab driver insisted. "I've played four times and lived. It's not chance, Mr. Julian. It's chess."

Zane scanned the scene around him with a sour face.

"This is ridiculous," he muttered. "But why are you doing this? No... wait... I see. This isn't for you. This is for your three children somehow. You shouldn't leave family photos out in the open. But how is it for them? Obviously, as a cab driver, you don't make very much money. And, you stolen any money from any of your victims, which means..." Zane blinked, hardly believing what his brain was telling him. But, when you've eliminated all else, whatever is left, must be true, no matter how unbelievable. "Someone is paying you. Paying you to kill."

* * *

Meanwhile, outside, the trio stood in front of the buildings, looking quite angry that there had to be four.

"Jay, Kai, you take these front two," Cole ordered. "And I'll try one in the back. Good luck, guys."

"You too," Jay shouted, running into the building closest to himself. Kai rolled his eyes and rushed into the adjacent one, and Cole sped off into one in the back.

"Zane!" Jay yelled, barging into all the classrooms, praying he was ok.

Same with Kai... and Cole. Soon, they saw each other through the windows in the very last classroom, and with a sense of foreboding, turned slowly the building. Zane stood with his back towards them, and he held something to the light. Despair grew in the pits of their stomachs when they realized that he held a container, and in that container, a pill. He unscrewed the cap, as a man across of him did the same. When they raised the capsules to their mouths, Cole acted, and didn't think. Whipping out his gun, he shot right over Zane's shoulder, and into the man's shoulder, a fatal shot. The two others with the man fell one after another, and Zane whipped around, and saw the three bullet holes, but whomever shot them had vanished. Growling, Zane strutted to the cabbie, and kicked him, but not very hard.

"You're dying," he spat. "But there's still time to hurt you. Who is your sponsor?"

"A fan of yours," the man groaned. "I can't say his name..."

Zane growled again, and stepped on the shoulder with the bullet in it. The man cried out in pain.

"Tell me."

"The Overlord!"

And with that, he died.

* * *

Zane found himself sitting in the back of an ambulance, with an orange blanket draped over his shoulders.

"Why do I have this?" He asked Lloyd, who had been called to the scene. "I'm not in shock."

"Well," Lloyd replied with a slightly lopsided smile. "Some people want to take photos."

They shared a curt laugh, showing that they were not enemies, as many thought.

"Do you have any leads?" Lloyd questioned. "On the shooter that is."

"None whatsoever," Zane answered coolly, but looked over Lloyd's shoulder at the three men chatting behind the police tape. A smile formed on his lips.

"Zane?" Lloyd said, wondering why he was smiling.

"Hm," Zane said, continuing to grin. "I actually may be in shock. I'm going home."

"Are you sure?" Lloyd asked, stunned. "But you're at a crime scene!"

"Shock," Zane responded, chucking the blanket into the back of the ambulance. "See you, Inspector."

"Hey Zane," Jay said with a wave after said person crossed under the police tape. "Wow, um... what's going on?"

"Nice shot," Zane complemented. "All of you."

"Thanks," Cole grunted, realizing Zane already knew. "Welp, we just killed three people."

"They weren't very nice people, though," Kai added with a smirk. They walked towards Ninja Street, when a black car stopped in front of them, and a man got out.

"Zane..." Jay said with wide eyes. "That's the guy we told you about. Your frenemy."

"And I know exactly who he is," Zane hissed, striding over to him. "What are you doing here, Mycroft?"

"As ever, I'm concerned about you," Mycroft answered. Zane snorted. "So, another case cracked. How very public spirited ... though that's never really your motivation, is it? And has it ever occurred to you that we are on the same side?"

"Oddly enough," Zane stiffly remarked. "No."

"We have more in common than you like to believe," Mycroft chuckled. "This petty feud between us is simply childish. People will suffer ... and you know how it always upset Mom."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Kai said, shocked. "You're BROTHERS?!"

"Of course," Zane responded. "And Mycroft, YOU upset her."

"So he's not..." Cole began. "I dunno. A criminal mastermind?"

"Close enough," Zane sighed.

"Ugh, like I said, he loves to be dramatic," Mycroft also sighed, in the the same manner of Zane. "I only occupy a minor position in the Ninjago Government."

"Garbage," Zane scoffed. "He IS the Ninjago Government. That is, when he's not too busy being the British Secret Service or the CIA on a freelance basis. Good evening, Mycroft. Try not to start a war before I get home. You know what it does for the traffic."

They turned away from each other, and although the other didn't notice, Cole caught both of them sparing short, and pained, chuckles. He walked on, gently tapping Zane as he went. They walked together, while Kai and Jay spoke with Mycroft.

"So, when you say you are concerned about him..." Jay jokingly said. "You really are concerned!"

"Why wouldn't I be?" He shrugged, his glasses slipping slightly. "I mean, it actually _is_ a childish feud. He's always been so resentful. You can imagine the Dragon's Day dinners."

"Yeah..." Kai slowly said. "No. God, no!"

"You better catch up to those two," Mycroft added, his brown hair being tussled in the wind. "Make sure Zane eats. When he was younger, and enraptured in a book, he might not eat for days on end."

Meanwhile, Cole and Zane walked for a good distance without speaking a word between them. When they were out of earshot, Cole piped up.

"What did your brother do to split you apart?"

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing."

"Then why are you still mad?"

"He did nothing... in unusual circumstances. He did too much to help."

Cole's eyebrow raised.

"What happened?"

"Some day," Zane sighed. "All these questions will be answered at once."

"Hey! Wait up!" Jay called. "Zane, do you think the pie is still warm?"

* * *

"Interesting people," Mycroft said, looking after the four. Then he raised his cellphone and made a call. "Anthea? Upgrade Zane Julien's surveillance status. Grade Three Active. On second thought, add Kai, Jay Walker, and Cole Brookstone to his file as well."

* * *

Phew, that was TEDIOUS AND NEAR IMPOSSIBLE. 10,000+ WORDS. YOU ALL BETTER REVIEW, OR I WILL NOT CONTINUE DOING THIS. AS SOON AS I HIT TEN REVIEWS ON THIS STORY, I WILL POST THE NEXT CHAPTER. (unless it's not done.) LONGEST FIC I EVER WROTE. 'Kay, chapter note: Mycroft is Dr. Julien, Zane's dad, but for the purposes of this fic, he will remain his brother. The way he looks is his very first appearance in Zane's memories, brown hair and about forty. See you next time!


End file.
